the strength of Rachel

The Strength of Rachel

by Troy Cady

for #RHE, RIP

A critical analysis of the text suggests that

Rachel was stronger than anyone knew

When Jacob first arrived in Haran

several shepherds were waiting

for more shepherds to arrive

to remove the stone from the mouth of the well

The stone was so heavy

it could not be moved by a single man

but Rachel was unlike anyone else

she was a woman doing

what was thought to be a man’s work.

When she showed up with her flock—

one woman shepherd among so many men—

Jacob knew she was special.

Centuries later, the redactors credited Jacob with

removing the stone that day,

casting him in the role of superhero—

yet another man coming to the rescue

of just another ordinary woman.

But Rachel was no ordinary woman—

Rachel, who learned to share love

Rachel and her delayed dreams

Rachel, fertile with hope

when the child wouldn’t come

Rachel of Joseph,

mother of the family’s savior

when the famine hit,

mother of redemption,

the payback of good for evil—

and Rachel of Benjamin,

passed too soon

passed on the journey,

mother of a child

whose only memories of her

would come by the oral tradition

will come by the oral tradition.

A critical analysis of Rachel’s name

reveals an inconclusive mystery.

Some think her name means ewe—

fitting for a shepherdess—

but perhaps suggestive of just another helpless lamb,

fitting for a patriarchal literary agenda.

Others note the auditory resemblance

of Rachel’s name to an image of God

for ruach and el mean “breath of God”

Rach el, ruach el—

“One who is like the breath of God”—

a more likely interpretation:

the brevity of breath,

the endurance of God

Thus, I conclude and believe

that what really happened that day

was this:

it was Rachel

who moved the stone away

for when all is said and done

she did what no single man could do

.

.

.

.

Artwork by Sefira Ross

.